Pleasure Point • Statistics for January

January: Midwinter Muscle

January is peak winter at Pleasure Point. The average swell height sits at 7ft (2.2m) with a powerful 13.4-second period, and the wave rose is loaded in the W-WNW sector. WNW alone supplies 40.7 percent of all swell energy, with W adding another 21.5 percent. The bulk of the waves are pumping 5-8ft (1.5-2.5m) faces, and around 1 percent pushes into massive territory. For a southeast-facing point, the WSW/SW component is modest but precious: WSW delivers 3.2 percent and SW 1.2 percent, and when those southerly angles blend into the dominant WNW groundswell, Pleasure Point's walls line up beautifully.

Winds are the winter crux. Ideal offshore flow from N, WNW, NW and NNW is present about two-thirds of the time, with NNW and NW leading the charge at 19.1 and 11.1 percent respectively. Rain is more common in January, with 3.67 mm/day average precipitation, and the winter chill is real: air temperatures average 9.6°C and water temperature sits at 12.1°C. When the Pacific storm track sends in a clean WNW groundswell under a blue NW offshore wind, this is as good as it gets.